To not be able to get this news story out of my head ***trigger warning***

[ethelfleda]

I didn’t even hear about it at the time, only on radio 4 the other day after the accused was sentenced to prison for manslaughter. There was no warning before the new story and I fell to pieces when I heard it.
I just stupidly googled the story because I can’t stop thinking about it and I feel sick and and incredibly emotional.

It was the man that killed Alfie Lamb by crushing him to death with his electric car seat.

Does this happen to you?? I feel overwhelmingly like I need to do something about it in a weird way, but what??

What is wrong with people

Hopefully, some justice will previal in the prision as it often does and he gets three shades of shit knocked from him!

That was a woefully lenient sentence for what he did:(

And that mother shamefull for not intervening.

Stupid judicary:(

He isn't an MP's son. The MP adopted him and now they are estranged. So that would have nothing to do with it.

Not true. Both his parents attended the trial. They adopted him when he was eight. He dropped their names with police on arrest. I wonder why he thought that might work.

This story makes me feel sick, and Daniel Pelka’s as mentioned up thread. I learnt about his story during college (already had DS1 by then) and I had to leave the classroom, I was in bits. It makes me so angry that someone can do that to a child, but their own child just makes it worse

I too get like this and it's definitely heightened since having my own children.
When grenfall fire happened, I cried and cried and that story has still stuck with me in a big way.

I think it's human nature to be triggered by awful things that happen

The Philpot case has stayed with me, he was claiming for 17 child benefits and then burning 6 of them to death. The horror of it

Being an ex mp’s adopted estranged son had nothing to do with the sentencing, but it’s still disgusting.
So for the actual mansluaghter charge, he only got five years. The other two are for peverting justice etc. The mum got two.
Five years. For that innocent boys life.
So angry.

Poor Alfie, Baby P, Daniel Pelka, the children in Sheffield (very close to home - the helicopter ambulance landed on the playing field of my son's old primary school), Victoria Climbe, Archie Spriggs... the list only ever seems to get bigger.

OP if you're like me and get these histories playing over and over in your mind, I've found the best thing for me is to make a conscious decision to think about it for 5 minutes (I actually set a timer), cry, shout, whatever feels appropriate, then make a decision to move on for the rest of the day. I also do practical stuff like setting aside all my 5ps, 2ps and 1ps and donate them to NSPCC about twice a year (or whenever my piggy bank gets full!)*

The horror of news stories like this is that someone could be so cruel and savage to an innocent child. But don't lose sight of the fact that millions and millions of parents would never do this - the fact of Mumsnet's existence is testament to that!

*If you donate loose change, don't use the Coinstar machines at your local supermarket/shopping centre, as they usually skim 30% off the amount you put in. Pop in to your local bank or post office and ask for some coin bags for loose change.

At the original trial the jury could not reach a verdict on Mr Waterson which seems staggering. According to press reports the CPS were "deciding whether to push for a retrial".

So although I agree his sentence is a joke he came close to getting away with it totally

I hope they both burn in hell. I’m quite overwhelmed by the amount of hatred I feel for them both.

Oh I hear you on that. These two....things.
The one that just cracked me was Baby P. I can't even read about him without getting really upset.
It makes me hate people a bit.

I wasn't suggesting that childfree people aren't effected by these stories, simply that I find them more difficult since having children. I always found them sad but they didn't stay with me in the same way.

My children are little and I see how vulnerable they are and how much they rely on me. An author once wrote 'Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.' and I see it, I'm everything to my nearly 2 year old and he's never happier than when he's in my arms. When there is a story of someone losing a child I find myself imagining how I would feel if I lost my child. It's worse when a mother hurts or allows her child to be hurt. I feel the wrongness of it on quite a primal level and imagine how confused and betrayed the child must feel.

Oysterbabe very eloquently put